By default, Gmail automatically saves the details of people you reach out to. That's handy when looking up an old friend, not so handy when trying to tame your unruly Google Contacts. Now Gmail offers an option to get out of contact auto-saving, along with some other little-but-gratifying fixes.

Google Contacts needs to get better. Google and Gmail devotees regularly deal with duplicate…
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The switch for turning off Gmail's auto-save feature is in the General tab of your Gmail Settings, and it's going to make a lot of people happy, including this editor. Your conversation history with people you've mailed will still be available from search, so now you get to set when and how Gmail adds somebody to your actual Contacts. If you have an Android phone, or have ever synced your Google Contacts to a desktop app, you'll know how nice it is not to have hundreds of single-serving friends in the mix. A similar feature for controlling your "My Contacts" list had been slowly rolling out since July, but now you can take control of "All Contacts," too, right from the Settings.